To never want to go to a sealife centre again?

[ImAGoofyGoober]

Fascinating seeing all the fish etc but oh my goodness some of the tanks were tiny compared to the amount of animals in them!
Beautiful huge sea turtle in a little swimming pool along with a few sharks and tons of fish. There was barely any room 🙁 the penguins were sat miserably in their small outside space.

It was depressing and I’m embarrassed I’d never thought of just how cruel it is. There is loads of publicity over sea world, why is this any different?

Oh and they had seals that had been rescued up on display. One was very ill and people kept banging on the glass

I’ve thought the same before. The penguins at London Awuarium really don’t have much space at all. But this is true of all zoo/ sea life places really.

I don't think that they are all quite as bad as the one that you are describing though. Where was it? People can boycott it if they know which one it is.

Yup all zoos and aquariums sadly no matter what they say about conservation are working to make a profit at the expense of the animals. Unless they were a fully rescued animals non profit place which would be rare.

I like the one in London- apart from the penguin part, tiny space indoors, no fresh air as such

I disagree that all zoos treat animals badly. A zoo near where I live has massive enclosures and the animals are well cared for.

I find the Tiger Rock attraction at Chessington a bit disturbing. The tigers are crammed into a small space and encouraged to pace up and down their tunnel whilst a huge rollercoaster roars past full of screaming people every few minutes. I don't think this is right.

which one was it?

Hunstanton ?

Sealife was renamed shitlife by me and the ex after we visited one several years ago. I still feel very sad that we went. Have never wanted to go back! Some zoos however are very much about conservation and make considerable efforts i think. Its never going to be the same as being out in the wild but still better than being shot etc.

Went to Birmingham sealife last year and definitely not going back. Hell for the animals and the people, crammed to the rafters, could barely stop long enough to look at the teeny tanks before someone was shoving you out the way.

It was Scarborough.
The poor rescued seals are haunting me. I think it’s great they rescue but not morally right to turn them in to an attraction whilst they are so poorly.
The thing is they must make an absolute fortune. It was £20 per adult to get in on the day which is what a lot of people seemed to be doing and it was rammed. Toys and food had a huge mark up but were very popular. Why do they not put more back in to making the animals homes nicer?

I'm with you!

If you are ever passing through the NE of Scotland, there is a really good place at MacDuff www.macduff-aquarium.org.uk/ and a good café up the road.

They had a really big cod when I went there.

I went to that one a few years ago and it was horrible then too. I won’t go back.

For by we went there 3yrs ago and was worst day of our holidays rammed full people not pushchair friendly over priced and managed an hr in there Hell hole first and last experience of a sea life centre

The one at Scarborough is horrible. I went a few years ago and the whole place stunk. I haven't been back.

London is awful, and it used to be great when it was London aquarium

The Penguin section is just horrendous - jammed with people, you can't get through, you definitely can't see any penguins due to the cram and the crowd, but you can see they don't have anything like enough space.

I decided never to go again after my last visit several years ago

The Scarborough one is very tired and run down.

Go to The Deep in Hull. It is worth the entrance fee for a ride in the glass lift through the huge tank. Excellent aquarium.

The London one is awful compared to other nationally-known aquaria. I know because DS1s jelly fish obsession has taken us to many of them.

For those with little kids theAquarium at the Hornimann Museum in Sarf London is lovely

If you are in France, La Rochelle is fab

If you are lucky enough Monterey Bay Aquarium in California is wonderful

I was going to say was it Scarbourgh. Dp loves it tho...

It was the Scarborough one I went to as well and it was the poorly seals that made it horrible for me too.

Best aquarium ever is in Lisbon. It’s absolutely incredible and the central tank is worth gawping at for hours.

Nausicaa at boulogne sur mer is really good and not far from calais

My dd and her friend persuaded me to take them to the Hastings one years ago. I didn't realise that some had sharks, penguins and seals. The Hastings one must be a small Sealife Centre in comparison.

But it was still very depressing. I remember seeing a huge ray in a small, shallow pool. It would have taken it no time at all to swim from one side to the other. I told my daughter afterwards that the place made me feel sad and that we wouldn't be going back again.

Watching Blue Planet, seeing the huge distances that some sea creatures travel and being aware of the freedom that even the smaller fish have, re-enforces how horrible these places are.

Yanbu. Sealife is horrible. I'm ferociously anti big Seaworlds (contained Orcas and Dolphins, no thanks) but even the London sealife was horrible with the penguins stuck in a room .